Record labels hit by demise of music magazines

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Harp magazine, which folded last
month, is at least the third music magazine to cease publishing
in 2008, joining alt-country title No Depression and indie rock
mag Resonance in the dead pool.

For a certain section of the indie world focused on a more
mature, college-educated demographic, the loss of Harp and No
Depression hit especially hard.

"Those two outlets really spoke to our consumer," says John
Biondolillo, general manager at Dave Matthews' ATO Records,
which handles such critical darlings as singer/songwriters
Patty Griffin and David Gray.

Josh Wittman, group marketing director at Redeye
Distribution and Yep Roc Records, home of Dave Alvin and Billy
Bragg, calls them "core publications for us, and it's very
disappointing to see them go."

The closures of the two magazines might also reflect larger
trends for indie labels promoting triple A and alt-country
acts. "In the last 18 months, our focus has begun to shift away
from print ads and towards online and TV advertising,"
Biondolillo says. Other labels have sought alternative print
publications for advertising: Wittman says that Redeye and Yep
Roc's full page ads will now appear in Filter magazine.

Still, some are taking this opportunity to question the
value of print ads in general. Sean Hoess, co-founder of Velour
Recordings, home of such artists as Kaki King and Sonya
Kitchell, says, "When you look at the cost of print ads versus
the cost of online ads, it's doubtful whether buying print ads
will continue to make sense for indies. And with these two
magazines folding, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one coming
to this conclusion."

Many labels are taking their ad dollars to the Web. New
West Records co-founder/president Cameron Strang says that in
the past five years, "the Internet has become much more
important for us. We now have staff members dedicated to
growing our online presence, and the social networking sites
and blogs are a big part of our outreach strategy." New West's
acts include John Hiatt and Steve Earle.

Velour's Hoess says that his label also has an intensive
online strategy, but that there are limits to the power of the
Web for labels of his ilk. "We have the viral tools, the blog
ads, all the online stuff," he says, "but there is no magic
bullet. We have a very literate audience and they are not as
zeroed in on the blog buzz as other crowds are."

"It's hard to see publications for the non-teen and
twentysomething demographic go because they are the group that
still buys physical CDs and keeps the record stores open,"
Wittman says. "They are not the people that are reading (music
Web site) Stereogum all the time."

Labels are also ruing the demise of Harp's and No
Depression's lengthy review sections, and seemed unsure about
where to take their artists for coverage. "We're probably going
to look at specialty folk magazines," Burnside Distribution VP
Bill McNally says. Wittman says that he will still pursue
pitching Rolling Stone and Spin, but, "it seems like everyone
is cutting their CD review sections. It seems like a better
strategy to target Amazon and All Music Guide because they have
almost unlimited review space."

Rates can range based on a myriad of factors, but
generally, "hip" indie sites charge between $1,200 and $3,300,
while print publications like Harp and No Depression charged
between $1,825 and $2,295 for a full-page color ad.

Triple A radio advertising is also not really a viable
replacement for the magazines, according to McNally. "We
haven't done much with radio advertising, as it's a big cost
for a small spot. We possibly will do that more in the future
with the absence of our favorite print mags. I haven't seen
that it's increased sales dramatically, but probably increases
awareness locally," he says.

With the online and radio world presenting a somewhat
limited set of opportunities, some of the triple A and
alt-country labels have turned to a more old-school avenue:
cable TV. "We started doing it in the winter of 2006, around
the time of the Patty Griffin release, and found that, per
impression, it was cheaper than other outlets," ATO's
Biondolillo says. "We run ads during 'The Daily Show,' 'The
Colbert Report' and on Bravo and VH1 -- all shows and channels
we think our core audience is watching.

"There are more and more TV outlets and fewer and fewer
magazines," he continues. "If you have a good media buyer, it
can work really well."

But even cable is not without its drawbacks. "We do TV ad
buys in certain markets based on radio play and touring, and
we've found that it is cheaper than print," Wittman says. "But
the targeting is also less than focused, we're not in a place
where we can afford prime-time slots, and there is a lot of
saturation. TV is great, but you can't do it in a vacuum."

"All of this is really a symptom of a larger problem,"
Hoess says. "It's a lean time for everyone. Labels' revenues
are drying up, and record sales are down, which leads to
smaller ad budgets. For us, losing Harp and No Depression is
the print equivalent of Tower Records closing -- we are an
eclectic label, and we are losing coverage outlets."